A majority of justices sided with raisin farmer Marvin Horne in his battle against a federal program created to keep excess raisins off the market. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the 8-1 decision, with the court’s more conservative justices assenting.…

A majority of justices sided with raisin farmer Marvin Horne in his battle against a federal program created to keep excess raisins off the market. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the 8-1 decision, with the court’s more conservative justices assenting. While the government can regulate production, Roberts said that it cannot seize property without compensation. The court’s liberal judges defended the program’s intent, but some recognized it as outdated. Horne’s lawyer, Stanford Law professor Michael McConnell, argued that the government must offer payment under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which forbids “private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”